The Tale of Omega Squad
by Envy's-Slave
Summary: Follow Omega Squad, an ally of the famous Delta Squad,through the war plagued world of Serra. I'm no good at writing summeries .


Gears of War: The Tale of Omega Squad

Part One: Dusk

Due to the sound of fluttering wings James came out of his light sleep. As his eyes adjusted to the light of dawn he panned his surroundings. The dying down campfire casting shadows on the buildings that had seen better days. Sleeping around him was his fellow squad members. Nathan, his bandanna lowered over his eyes slowly chewing his lower lip in his sleep. Jess had her back against a burning barrel, a hand on her Lancer, and a finger on the trigger. Their fourth member was on the guard, watching their position as the rest slept. To the team he was known simply as Demon. Each one of their faces bore scars of the years before. Sensing movement Jess opened her eyes.  
"You awake Berthoty?" she asked quietly.  
"Yes Ma'am"  
"Berthoty, don't call me that. I'm only one year your senior."  
"Um...ok…Jess." He replied softly.  
The sky above them darkened suddenly as a flock of krill flew above their heads. Within seconds Jess sprang up and pulled a flask out of her bag and poured its contents into the barrel. The flames roared with new life.  
"That should keep them away 'till the sun is completely up" said Jess sitting back down. James looked at her in confusion. "What?" she asked.  
"You have booze on you?"  
"Hell no, it's imulsion."  
"y-you carry imulsion?" James Stammered.  
"Yes It works wonders against the Kryll"  
" But it's worth a lot!"  
"Money means nothing in this world now, James you know that. Coming from a wealthy family you know this too. Money couldn't buy your family safety or protection from the locust. We fought over this" she pointed her head towards the burning barrel. "Instead of protecting our own goddamned society!" Jess's eyes burned with a hatred of both humanity and the locust. Flames from the fire danced across her hazel orbs. James just looked at her.  
'Her hatred has made her strong. The perfect COG soldier. She has no ties left to this world. Her family, husband and child raped to that horrible day.' He thought.  
Hours passed and the warmth and light of the sun drove the krill to the bowels of the ground. James managed to get some more sleep.  
"Rise and shine ladies! The day has been removed from the womb of the night!" called Jess loudly waking her squad. Slowly the men stirred and got to their feet.  
"Mornin' Jess" mumbled Nathan adjusting his bandana. "Has anyone seen the duffle? I found some of the government issued insta-food, thought we could have breakfast for once."  
"Um I think it's by the north by north-east pile of rubble." answered James readjusting his breastplate.  
Nathan strapped his shotgun so his back and walked towards the pile of rocks.  
A Figure appeared for a second on his peripheral. Quickly and silently Nathan signaled for the squad to be dead silent and still. Like a ghost Jess appeared at his side.  
"What did you see?" she asked sternly.  
"A figure about five foot nine. Possibly a drone" whispered Nathan putting a couple of rounds in his gun"  
" Or possibly it's the best of our team." Said Demon climbing over a wall towards them. "God you people suck, Just because you need to sleep and I don't doesn't mean I have to be on freakin' watch every night!"  
Jess rolled her eyes. This was the same rant every morning. Nathan sighed and continued his journey to the rubble. In the background the continuation of Demon's rant was followed by Jess ranting back at him. Jumping over a rock Nathan reached the duffle.  
"Oh shit" he whispered. The duffle was ripped to shreds, like by millions of little teeth. "Guys we have a problem "  
"What is it!" yelled Demon and Jess in unison. Nathan picked up the bag showing the others. Thin patches of cloth ripped off and fell to the ground. " Is that the duffle?" asked Jess angrily glaring at Demon. Nathan nodded, Jess tackled Demon and pinned him to the ground.  
"Get off me bitch!" cried Demon.

A fire was alive in her eyes. " Those were our supplies, our maps! you lazy ass

son of a bitch!." she growled at him. Jess pressed her Lancer's bayonet against his bare neck.  
"Jess stop this madness" said Nathan, his voice filling with worry. " James help!"  
Demon kneed Jess in the stomach knocking her off him. Within seconds Demon was on top of her with his hands wrapped around her neck. She reached out towards her dropped Lancer, but she fell short. James hurried over to his friend and squad leader who were trying to kill each other. In their fight the two kicked a water pipe open. The water sloshed around them creating a pond of mud. Jess grabbed a handful of mud and threw it at Demon's helmet. She knew he would be stunned if she could take out his vision. The mud hit its mark and completely covered the visor.  
"Damned whore!" yelled Demon tearing his helmet off.  
Nathan quickly intervened and pulled Demon into a headlock and help him still. James took hold of Jess. "Jess calm down it's not the end of the world. We can get a new map and new supplies." He said softly in her ear. She shook him off and grabbed her mud coated Lancer. Clearing her throat she said "Taylor lock Oni up at Omega base. I want his helmet and tags on my desk. Berthoty pack up camp, put out the fire, and gather what can be saved from the duffle. Then you boys can relax. I'm getting cleaned" She ran a muddy hand through her muddy hair. Grabbing her and her fellow squads packs, save Demon's, she trekked to their base. Nathan looked at Demon and hit him in the back of the head with he butt of his shotgun. Demon fell face first into the mud. Nathan threw the unconscious figure over his shoulder and picked up the discarded helmet. James double timed back to camp and poured dirt over the fire and gathered up his sniper rifle and small first aid kit. Nothing could be salvaged from the duffle. Nathan and James walked back to the base together.  
The base was their Basic hangout, an old abandoned barrack. They were all best friends during Basic, they graduated two full years early.  
When they arrived a mud trail led from the front door to the girls dorms.  
"James I'll meet you up in our dorm" said Nathan making his way up to the secondary office to put Demon down.  
James sighed as the sound of a shower was turned on. He took off his boots and carried them up stairs and placed them at the foot of his bed. He slowly started taking off his armor and placing them on his trunk to be washed later. Shouldering his sniper rifle he walked forward and down the hall to the weapons locker. He took the sniper apart and cleaned each piece until it looked like new. A few minutes later Nathan walked in to put away his shotgun.  
"Busy day huh?" asked Nathan lightly.  
"no, not at all" replied James jokingly. Silence filled the room, the house sounded like a tomb.  
" Eerie, war is" Nathan muttered to himself.  
James looked up at him " Nathan?"  
"Nothing" Nathan stood up and walked down stairs to the kitchen to make lunch. James put away the sniper rifle and went to the bathroom to get a wash cloth for his armor. Hours passed and James, Nathan, and Jess sat around the radio and listened to broadcasts and music that came through the horrible reception.  
" Oni should be waking up soon" said Jess softly.  
"Yeah" said Nathan agreeing.  
" I don't want to speak or see that worthless son of a bitch. He doesn't deserve to be a solider" she growled softly.  
" This will work out Jess, in a night or so it will be fine." Said James. A soft sigh came from the baby monitor next to the radio.  
" Demon is up. Someone let him out, but don't give him his tags or helmet." Said Jess turning off the monitor.  
James got up and walked up stairs to the holding room/ office. He opened the door to see an awake Demon chained to a pipe on the wall. "Enjoy your nap?"  
"Shut up asshole" said Demon softly.  
James walked up to him and unlocked the lock around Demon's ankle. " Nathan thought you might want that." On the desk next to Demon Nathan placed a glass of water and some asprin.  
"Thanks" Demon smiled weakly and took the medicine. "Can I have my tags?"  
" Jess told me not to"  
"Ah"  
"Sorry man"  
"Don't be, its my fault" Demon stood and fluffed his hair. He walked down the hall and peeled off his armor. Sighing he went down stairs and walked up to Jess, who was going through Nathan's scrapbook. "Uh Jess..." Jess closed the book and turned to face Demon. "I wanted so that I was sorry. I should have been more careful of where I placed the duffle. I should known it was in the dark. Hell I was on watch I should have seen the Kryll gathering around it. I'll make it up to you I promise" Demon looked shamefully at the floor.  
A small smile appeared in the corners of Jess's mouth. She dug into her pocket and tossed his tags at him.  
"Welcome to Omega squad"  
Demon smiled. He remembered when he first heard those words.

Basic, Four years earlier

"Will Privates Taylor, Berthoty, Hudlow, and Oni please go to Hoffman's office " said the very loud overhead speaker in the mess hall. A couple other privates did the usual 'oooh' like every other time someone was called to the office. The four of them got up from their table in the back of the room and walked to the office looking at each other. They entered the room in a single file line and saluted in unison.  
"At ease men, do any of you have any idea why you are here?" asked Hoffman to no one in mind. No response came. "Hudlow why do you think you are here?"  
" I have no idea sir" she replied. With Berthoty, Taylor, and Oni the answer was the same.  
" You are here because of your over all skills, Hudlow with hand to hand, Taylor with close to mid range, Oni with stealth, and Berthoty with long range. Over all you are perfect in all levels of combat. Come with me" He walked to his door and opened it and walked out, the privates followed. They walked down a long hallway that was filled with pictures of graduates and squads. Hoffman stopped near the end of the hallway. The four of them looked around and noticed that their pictures were added. " For your expert skills as soldiers, you four are to graduated tomorrow"  
They looked wide-eyed at each other and at Hoffman.  
" Get a good nights rest. The ceremony starts at 05:00 hours. Dress nicely. You are dismissed"  
They saluted him as he left.  
" Oh my god guys!" said James loudly.  
"Early Grads!" added Nathan.  
Demon just stood there looking at their pictures looking pleased with himself. Jess look at her friends.  
"Well guys lets get ready for tomorrow" she said.  
They all awoke at three in the morning. Demon groggily got out of bed.  
"Anyone else have trouble sleeping?" he asked.  
"No" said everyone else in return.  
" You all suck, it's getting harder and harder to sleep every night"  
"Maybe you should get some help" said Nathan.  
"I don't need help" Demon quickly.  
At five they entered the Ceremony Hall in their shiny new COG armor. The Ceremony of speeches droned on for hours. Finally Hoffman told them to rise.  
"I now am pleased to welcome you all to the Coalition of Ordered Governments Army. Welcome to Omega squad." The new squad saluted in unison and were awarded metal plaques with the letter Omega to add to their armor.  
Later that night during the party they all got matching tattoos of the letter Omega on the back of their necks.

Barracks, Present

Jess sat on the bench of the weapons locker and started chipping away the dried caked on mud from that morning tussle from her Lancer. A burned smell reached her nose and she smiled. As punishment Demon had to cook dinner for the squad. It was his worst skill, he couldn't make toast to save his life.  
After her work was done she rejoined her adoptive family in the living room. Nathan was flipping through his scrapbook. He had lost his beautiful wife to Emergence Day. Pulled apart by the sea of chaotic people. After things had calmed down went down to look for her. The search party found her body a mile away from where she was last seen. Trampled to death by the crowd of people. Every bone in her body broken, but her face was untouched. James knew by the way Nathan was breathing that he was thinking about his wife.  
James was wifeless; he never married. He grew up like every other boy in upper class, live fast and hard. But during that fateful day fighting for survival he was spotter by a recruiter and enlisted. His family, his estate were destroyed by emergence hole and the Hammer of Dawns. James got up from his spot by the radio and put a hand on Nathan's shoulder. Nathan looked up at h im and smiled.  
"I have a feeling we're gonna be moving out soon" Jess stated.  
James and Nathan looked at her. She was normally right with these kind of things.  
Demon walked out of the kitchen with an old apron around his waist. It was burned and had stains of random foods.  
"Okay I set the original meal on fire so we are eating plan B: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches." Demon stated.  
Nathan smiled, as did James and Jess. At least They got to eat dinner.  
"Thanks Demon" said Jess pulling her chair up to the dinner table.  
Demon dropped the plate of sandwiches in the middle of the table. They all gathered around and stared eating.  
"Hey guys, I want to make a toast" said Jess halfway through the meal. She raised her standard issue COG cup filled with water. "May we kick Locust ass and make them wish they never crawled out of their damned holes" she said smiling.  
"Aye, aye" said Nathan.  
"I'll drink to that" added Demon.  
"For the worst four years of my life, these were the best" said James.  
They all clanged cups, water sloshing over the brims. They all laughed and enjoyed their night. Just getting drunk off life. That was their last night together.  
Later in the early hours of the morning everyone was asleep. Demon was trying to upstairs in his own bed. Nathan was fast asleep on the living room couch, James on the floor, and Jess at the table with her head against the radio. All of a sudden the radio sprang to life and emitted static and bits of a transmission.  
"Omega...come in Omega…this is Alpha…come in…Seeders…need…help…House…Sovereigns…come." The voice was broken up and urgent. Jess woke up and quickly put a face to the voice. She grabbed the microphone.  
"Baird! Baird! You there?" there was no response. Her friend from Basic and Nathan's cousin's signal was lost. "Guys get up now! We have a code twenty-seven!" she yelled loudly to her squad. James woke up quickly because one: Jess pushed her chair over narrowly missing him and two: when a girl yells at you to get up, you get up. Shortly afterwards Nathan woke up.  
"Alpha is in trouble, we're going after them." said Jess quickly.  
"What? Now?" asked Nathan. But there was no response. Jess had sprinted up the dorms to rouse Demon from his bed and to get her gear on. By the time Nathan and James got upstairs Demon was out of bed and fully in his COG armor.  
"Anyone know what's going on?" asked Demons getting the squads weapons.  
"My cousin's squad needs help and we're answering the call. I'm guessing we're the closest to them." Answered Nathan pulling on his breastplate. A few minutes later Omega was down stairs at the front door fully geared up and each with their weapons. Jess silently looked over her squad and nodded.  
" Everyone stay close. Stay out of the shadows, the Sun will be coming out in a few hours."  
Jess turned on a small UV light in her armor and stepped outside. The squad walked quickly and quietly down the destroyed streets and allies. The only sounds that were heard were the soft clinks of rocked being walked on and the soft breathing of Demon through his helmet.  
Finally the Sun came up and the squad walked with less tension. Jess turned off her light when it was safe that not Kryll would come out. The squad continued their walk in silence, talking could give away their position to any nearby enemies.  
After hours of double timing they were close to their destination. A low rumbling came to Jess's ears. She raised her forearm, the signal to stop. The rumbling seemed to have a patter to it. Her eyes widened ,she faced her team and covered her mouth with her hand. This was the signal that said ' if you make a noise you die'. James laid down on the ground and pressed his ear to the floor. Thump pause thump pause. He shot up and looked at Jess who nodded at him. His fear was realized. James faced Nathan and Demon and hand an hourglass shape with his hands. The team started roadie running towards the House of Sovereigns, But it was too late.  
A roar was hear followed by the sound of shear power and brute force. All of a sudden the house at Demons very close three collapsed and the Berserker appeared. A balance beam from the building shot forward and hit Demons back.  
"Ahhhh!" he yelled in pain. Nathan turned around to see what happened. Demon had been knocked down and laid face first on the ground.  
"Jess!, Demon is hurt I'm gonna get him" called Nathan  
"Fine, James and I will go on. Meet you at the house" she replied.  
Nathan took a deep breath and ran towards his teammate. Slowly getting up Demon took off his helmet. It was creating too much noise. The black latex cloth that was covering his neck and upper back and been ripped off and his back started to bleed.  
Twelve feet away at his six, the Berserker was spinning in a small circle trying to find the location of her prey. The ventilation of Demon's helmet that she had focused on had disappeared. Nathan had gotten within twenty feet of her when she started to smell him. He leaned over, not looking away from her and picked up a small rock. He threw it in the direction opposite of Demon. She heard the rock hit against a bit of metal and charged after it. Nathan sped over to Demon and helped him up. Demon was about to say something when Nathan pressed a finger to his lips then pointed to the confused Berserker. The two hobbled off in the direction on the house. It was a long and silent trip.  
The squad met up again on the front steps of the house.  
"You ok Demon?" asked Jess.  
" Other than I'm losing feeling in my back and my neck feels like it's on fire, I'm fine" he answered.  
"Cocky bastard" muttered James.  
Gunfire could be heard from the inside of the house along with the 'For the queen!' battle cry of the Locust. Suddenly the Com system started working and the squad could hear Alpha yelling back and forth between each other. Just as soon as it started the transmission ended.  
The squad entered the house. It was pure chaos, Locust everywhere. Omega opened fire and did what they did best, kill Locust. They fought room to room clearing them as best as they could. Just as things were quieting down a death cry of a Berserker filled the air along with the pulsing sound of the Hammer of Dawn.  
"They're outside!" called James.  
They ran as fast as they could to the front door , But when they got to the foyer a familiar sound started looming around. Thump pause thump pause.  
" Hey Demon your girlfriend is back" said James jokingly.  
"Guys don't joke right now, we don't have a Dawn and she wont get off our tails." Said Jess softly. Omega started moving to the courtyard. A Seeder than appeared in the courtyard and killed off all communications.  
"We're alone" said Demon. Soon there was a constant thump thump.  
"It's a girls night out" muttered Nathan. The Locust started closing in on the house. The shadows stretched on the floor.  
" Well guys it's been fun" said Demon.  
" It's not over 'til it's over" said James sternly.  
Jess quickly lead them to a secure room. They stared barricading the doors with tables, couches, and bits of broken statue. They all stood in the middle of the room, each facing a door or window.  
"Who ever kills the most wins a prize" said Jess with a smile " What do you guys want?"  
" A shotgun strap, so I can stop carrying this things by hand" said Nathan.  
"FHM" said Demon with a smirk.  
"Better sights for my rifle" said James.  
" A nice dress" added Jess.  
Locusts started banging on the door. The squad raised their guns in unison.  
" Let the game begin" said Jess with a smirk.

Gears of War:  
The Tale of Omega Squad  
By Jess Hudlow


End file.
